Conventionally, measuring vessels have been used to measure a granular object such as powdery or granular medicine. As shown in FIG. 4, a measuring vessel 1 is a rectangular parallelepiped made of stainless steel and having a space with a capacity equal to the volume of the granular object to be measured. A holder 2 also made of stainless steel is placed on the measuring vessel 1. The holder 2 has a through hole communicable with the space of the measuring vessel 1. The granular object is fed into the through hole and, when the through hole of the holder 2 is communicated with the space of the measuring vessel 1, the space of the measuring vessel 1 can be filled with the granular object.
A shutter 4 is disposed under the measuring vessel 1. The shutter 4 also has a through hole communicable with the space of the measuring vessel 1. In the configuration, when the through hole of the shutter 4 is communicated with the space of the measuring vessel 1, the granular object filling up the space of the measuring vessel 1 falls through the through hole of the shutter 4. Thereupon, the measuring vessel 1 reciprocates horizontally, and a step of communicating the space of the measuring vessel 1 with the through hole of the holder 2 so that the space of the measuring vessel 1 is filled with the granular object and a step of communicating the space of the measuring vessel 1 with the through hole of the shutter 4 so that the granular object filling up the space of the measuring vessel 1 falls through the through hole of the shutter 4 are performed alternately and repeatedly.
When granular object which has high hardness, such as spherical adsorptive carbon, or which contains fine granules or generates fine granules during processing, is measured, the fine granules are caught between the measuring vessel 1 and the holder 2 or the shutter 4 as the measuring vessel 1 slides relatively on the holder 2 or the shutter 4, causing a damage to the measuring vessel 1, the holder 2, and/or shutter 4. Also, since the measuring vessel 1 slides on the holder 2 and the shutter 4, the contact surfaces thereof are subjected to abrasion. Therefore, a spare measuring vessel and so on for replacement must be prepared so that the measuring vessel and so on can be replaced when damaged.